The top two spots remain the same, although the Broncos' impressive performance on Sunday has them right on the Steelers' heels. The Giants make a strong move up the rankings, jumping from No. 10 to No. 6, putting them right behind the Falcons and Seahawks as the NFC's highest-ranked teams.
At the bottom of the rankings, the Texans just can't catch a break. Despite winning their first game of the season, Houston remains in the bottom spot. The 49ers avoid the No. 32 spot by beating the Bucs, jumping up to No. 27, the highest they've been all season.

On to the rankings. Also, you can rank the teams yourself with SportsNation's NFL Power Rankings.

2005 Power Rankings: Week 9
RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT

1 (1) Colts 7-0-0 A win in Foxborough this Monday would go a long way toward ensuring that if the Patriots and Colts meet again in the playoffs, it will be in Indianapolis.

2 (2) Steelers 5-2-0 People might have been expecting a blowout, but you can bet the Steelers knew they were going to get a fight against the Ravens on "Monday Night Football."

3 (4) Broncos 6-2-0 Jake Plummer for MVP? Probably a little premature for that, but he is playing some of the best football of his career.

4 (3) Falcons 5-2-0 Michael Vick is never going to complete 65 percent of his passes. But the Falcons are 28-13-1 in the regular season with him as the starter. That's pretty good.

5 (5) Seahawks 5-2-0 The biggest news in Seattle these days: Shaun Alexander's contract situation. Maybe a sign of good things to come.

6 (10) Giants 5-2-0 The most explosive offense in the NFL? With Manning, Barber, Burress and Shockey, the Giants just might have it.

7 (9) Bengals 6-2-0 Five picks against Brett Favre and all the team can muster is 21 points? That game should have been a rout.

8 (13) Panthers 5-2-0 Everyone knows Jake Delhomme is going to Steve Smith, but no one can stop them.

9 (11) Patriots 4-3-0 Tedy Bruschi can't fix everything that's wrong with the Patriots, but getting him back obviously makes them a better team than they were last week.

10 (12) Chargers 4-4-0 LaDainian Tomlinson has as many TD passes (3) this season as the Jets do as a team.

22 (20) Lions 3-4-0 Yes, Jeff Garcia was trying to make a play in OT. But there are times when there just isn't a play to be made.

23 (24) Titans 2-6-0 Tough game for Pacman Jones. He has an 82-yard punt return for a TD overturned on a bad call and then gets called out for missing a key tackle on Jerry Porter on a play that turned into a 44-yard TD.

25 (27) Jets 2-5-0 Curtis Martin said the Jets were in the "worst condition that we've been in as a team since I've been here." Well, we're not sure things are going to get much better.

26 (23) Cardinals 2-5-0 Good news for the Cards comes in the form of Anquan Boldin suffering only a bone bruise and not cartilage damage.

27 (31) 49ers 2-5-0 Seven games into the season and they're already on their fourth starting QB (Cody Pickett). That's not a good thing.

28 (28) Browns 2-5-0 Maybe the Browns shouldn't have been so worried about being underdogs against the Texans.

29 (21) Vikings 2-5-0 No sarcastic comment this week. Just wishing Daunte Culpepper a speedy recovery from his knee injury. He obviously wasn't having a good year, but Culpepper is still one of the NFL's most dynamic players.

30 (29) Saints 2-6-0 San Antonio or Louisiana? Benson vs. cameraman. When will the franchise be able to just focus on football again?

31 (30) Packers 1-6-0 Yes, at some point the Packers need to plan for the future. But it's not time to start talking about sitting Brett Favre.

32 (32) Texans 1-6-0 It's a small consolation, but the fans really had to enjoy the threat of an 0-16 season going away coming off the heels of a World Series sweep.

donkhater

11-01-2005, 01:00 PM

When will the talking heads get it? Plummer is playing well, but that rushing game is why. It's like saying Big Ben in Pittsburgh should be MVP. He's not even MVP of his team.

RedandGold

11-01-2005, 01:00 PM

Middle of the road is just about right.

We have the talent to be better but seem to lack the focus.

MOhillbilly

11-01-2005, 01:02 PM

and cohesion

ChiefsFan4Life

11-01-2005, 01:06 PM

Seems pretty accurate but I would personally put it as

15. Rams
16. Chiefs
17. Redskins

I say this because the Rams, unlike the Chiefs, have actually gameplanned for their games. When you beat the Jaguars without Bulger, Holt, and Bruce that means that strategy/gameplan was DEFINITELY involved.

philfree

11-01-2005, 01:10 PM

Considering that Trent Green was getting hit on every play his performance was about as good and gutsy as I've seen for a pocket passer. It's a shame that the O line couldn't protect him physically when he was already under mental and emotional duress. I feel like they let him down. Hopefully his gutsy performance will inspire them to play better this week and the rest of the season.

PhilFree:arrow:

Area 51

11-01-2005, 01:15 PM

Considering that Trent Green was getting hit on every play his performance was about as good and gutsy as I've seen for a pocket passer. It's a shame that the O line couldn't protect him physically when he was already under mental and emotional duress. I feel like they let him down. Hopefully his gutsy performance will inspire them to play better this week and the rest of the season.

PhilFree:arrow:

Something, somewhere needs to wake these guys up. I'm not sure if the offense has let down because they figured the defense would be better than thay seem to be.

My plan for the rest of the year is to enjoy each game as they come and if the Chiefs should make the playoffs enjoy those games as they come as well.

Before the season started, even after the pre-season, I felt that we had a better team than last year. I still feel that way, but I am not as locked in to the Super Bowl as I was before week one.

chiefsfan1963

11-01-2005, 01:28 PM

I had the chance to see the game again via NFL TIcket Super Fan Short Cuts, and totally agree with a few on this board that this loss was not too bad after further review of each play. Our D really did a pretty good job overall, and our O moved the ball but was unable to convert crucial points in the Red Zone. You can certainly blame the coaches on not abondoning the run soon enough, but overall this loss can actually be advantageous for this team going forward. They learned alot about themselves and can make the appropriate adjustments for the rest of the season! I can see this team going on a 5 game winning streak!

Call me crazy but I can see this happening. One game at a time will be the focus, and the next goal will be to win 2 games in row then 3. Once we do this for the first time in the season, then 5 in a row will be very achievable.

I couldn't see any of this on Sunday or Monday, but this team still has alot to work with and many of our playmakers are still not playing in 3rd or even 4th gear yet.

We'll know more after Sunday's game if any of this holds true.

morphius

11-01-2005, 01:40 PM

Middle of the road is pretty accurate and at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see the Raiders hop us on this chart very soon.

MOhillbilly

11-01-2005, 01:41 PM

Middle of the road is pretty accurate and at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see the Raiders hop us on this chart very soon.

think theyll beat KC????

morphius

11-01-2005, 01:47 PM

think theyll beat KC????
I think they could do it, they have suddenly emerged on offense and the lack of consistency that we have been showing...

Well, nothing would surprise me with this team. I guess I'm to the point where I believe that this could be a typical DV season here, lose a few games here to keep us out of the playoff's and then suddenly go on a winning streak at the end of the year to get us excited about what could be next year...

But hey, I have had a super shitty week, so it could just be that talking.

RP_McMurphy

11-01-2005, 01:52 PM

Right now based on all the teams that have played my team (Jaguars). The best team is the Bronco's so far with their physical style of play and a very improved Jack Plummer.

NJ Chief Fan

11-01-2005, 01:56 PM

we just need to get into the playoffs...this year basically anyone could go into the super bowl as long as they make it with may be an exception of the bears...they have a good d...but i dont think its a good enough d to win the nfc and im not buyin the colts "power house" d...just the luck of the draw when it comes to their schedule...its very weak and havent played a solid offense for 4 quarters...they played a solid offense for a half and were gettin mashed(talkin bout the rams before bulger when done) as for the broncos...COME TO ARROWHEAD, BEAT US IN ARROWHEAD AND THEN TALK SHIT...till then i believe you dip shits have to play us and the chargers AT OUR HOUSE..i think the broncos finish the season at 12-4 the win the division...i think the chiefs will go 7-2 the rest of the way finish up at 11-5 and the chargers are going to finish up 10-6

sedated

11-01-2005, 01:58 PM

We have more talent than anyone, but our coaching staff is gonna screw us out of this season.